Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I know.” They all looked at Rebel. “I can say I’m going to be staying there for a few days until my new place is ready for me.”

  “I don’t want to use Angie, but how do we make him believe she’s still there with you? As Thomas said, he’s fixated on her.” That was the tricky part. No one wanted to have a child used as bait. “He might think this is his last chance at her and be a little braver. What can we do to make him stupider than he already is?”

  It was Thomas who had the answer. He could, he told them, make the man believe what he wanted. It wasn’t a trick he had had to use much on his side, but it was a bit of fun for him sometimes. The plan was easy enough, Lach thought, and that was what scared her. It was too pat, too easy for mistakes to happen. But in the end, it was all they had.

  The plan was set, but Harris told Rebel she needed to talk it over with Rodney. Lach knew as soon as she said it that it was the wrong thing to say to her. Getting the okay from someone she barely knew wasn’t anything that Rebel wanted to do. However, when she stomped out of the room, going to get his permission, she said, Lach followed. There wasn’t going to be any way she’d come between the two of them, but she did worry for them.

  They were both coming out of the office when the shouting began. It was Rebel doing most of it, but she could see that Rodney wasn’t any happier about what was going on than she was. It wasn’t until she started to step around them that she realized her mistake. She was much too close to them for them not to notice her there.

  They were both angry enough to absorb energy from the others in the room. It was the only thing she could think that was going on. Rebel seemed to glow with the newfound power. Rodney as well, but his was very little compared to what Rebel was getting. If anyone would have asked her, she would have said it wasn’t possible for someone to feed off of energy, but it turned out to be true for Rebel and Rodney.

  ~*~

  Rebel had only meant to move Lach out of the way. But when she went flying across the room, Rebel did the only thing she could think of and put out her hands to catch her. In her mind, that made perfect sense. However, she was a good ten feet or so away from the other woman, and she knew she couldn’t have caught her even if her life had depended on it. But just as she put out her hands, the motion of Lach coming down to the floor stopped.

  She was suspended in the air like a person who had wires attached to her body to hold her. Moving toward her to help her to the floor, she was shoved out of the way by Oakley. Before she could suspect what would happen next, the room tightened so tightly around her that she couldn’t breathe for several seconds. Then she noticed that the room was filled with snarling cats with their fur standing on end.

  Two of the cats leapt at one another. When she was knocked to the floor in their haste to kill one another, she heard a feral scream from one of them that made the hair on her arms and neck stand up. Getting up while the six cats seemed to be trying their best to tear out each other’s throats, Rebel went to the kitchen. She had had enough of this shit.

  Handing her a bucket, Molly, their cook, smiled at her as she turned the water to cold, even going so far as to get some ice out of the freezer and pouring it in the bucket Rebel was filling. They could hear the cats in the other room.

  The sound of breaking furniture pissed her off more. When Harris and the others joined her, they started laughing. Pulling the heavy full bucket out of the sink, she carried it to the dining room and tossed the contents on all six of the fighting cats.

  They leapt back from the water, snarling at her now when she set the bucket beside her. Crossing her arms over her chest, tapping her foot, she was happy that Lach went to the door and opened it.

  “Get out of this house.” No one moved when Rebel shouted. “Get the fuck out of this house, and you’re not to return until you can act like humans again. The nerve of the six of you, acting like animals. Did it occur to you to ask what was going on before you started—? What the fuck are you still doing in this house? I said to get out.”

  They moved quickly now, tumbling over each other, still snarling and swiping at each other. When the last one slinked past her, she wanted to kick out at it, but she didn’t know who it was. She was going to have to figure that out soon, but not today. They were all on her shit list. When the last one was out, she heard the door slam as she was taking the bucket back to the kitchen. Molly was laughing harder than she thought was warranted, but it was all right.

  “They were acting like children.” She told the older lady she’d thought so as well. “Their momma, she would have smacked them all with the broom had she been here. I have no doubt about that.”

  She said she’d clean up her mess, but Molly told her she had it. It had been worth the little bit of work to see her put them boys in their place. Going into the living room, where the other women were, and sitting on the couch, they acted like nothing had just happened and that they’d been planning this meeting all afternoon.

  “I was just telling them the rest of what I was able to get from Thomas. For a recently deceased, he seems to have a handle on his power better than most.” Rebel asked if he was still there. “No. I’m sorry. He must rest a little before he can return. He wishes to see you as well. I’ll make sure I call you when I need to speak to him again.”

  “Thank you.” She sat back in the chair. “As you might have guessed, I didn’t get an answer from the idiot. I haven’t any idea why he thought that getting pissy with me would have any other effect on me than what happened. He doesn’t own me.”

  “I doubt if he thought of that as well. And cats are a very jealous lot.” Harris stretched out her legs and smiled at her. “I nearly wet my panties when you went to get water. And the fact that you beat me to getting them out of the house is going to be something I’m jealous about for weeks to come. I doubt very much any of them are going to be very happy when they come back in. If I let them.”

  “I’d not. They’re being big babies. It’s not like I hurt her when I moved her.” She looked at her hands, then at Lach. “I don’t have any idea how I was able to do that. I mean, I’m sure it was me, but the thought of what I did scares the crap out of me. Anyone have any idea why that happened?”

  “You were feeding from the others.” The man appeared in the room with them, and Rebel knew immediately that he was a vampire. Thinking he was the man they’d been waiting on, she waited on him to speak again before she said too much more. “There is a bit of witchcraft coming off you. I’d say that long ago, more than likely from the Salem witch hunts, one of your ancestors was a strong witch. You could, perhaps, use some of the other magic you have and get stronger with it. However, today we’re here for me to tell my friend Harris what I have found out about her. Are we having the men come in to hear this as well?”

  “No.” They answered him in unison, and Jason laughed. Then Bella explained what had happened. “So we sent them outside, where they might have to live for a while if they don’t straighten up their shit. Christ, you should have seen them, Jason. They were like wild animals simply because Rebel got a little overzealous with moving Lach out of the way.”

  They were laughing when Harris went to the door. Going out onto the deck, Rebel wondered what she was telling them. Hearing Harris getting a little loud, Rebel laughed. Whatever was going on, it was enough to piss Harris off again. When she came into the room again, she smiled at them all and began telling them about why Jason was there.

  “Shep felt it might be good for us to know, in the event one of our children was born with the traits of whoever it was. It’s nothing I’ve been concerned about but for that reason.” The door opened, and the men came in, Shep leading the way. “Are you planning on starting a ruckus again?”

  “No.” They came in and sat down on the other chairs in the room. Oakley looked at her, as did the others. “I’m sorry that things got out of hand earlier.”

  “I d
idn’t hurt her. I wouldn’t have hurt anyone in this room unless they provoked me. As the six of you did.” Rodney came and sat on the floor in front of her. While he didn’t touch her, he was close enough that she could see he was having a hard time keeping his humor under control. “What do you think is so funny?”

  “You. Christ. You looked amazing when you dumped that water on us. I wanted to be pissed off, but I just couldn’t. Every time I think of you standing there giving us a piece of your mind with that bucket in your hand, I’m going to laugh my ass off. It was amazing.” She grinned with him but was still stern when she told him she’d been pissed. “Oh, I don’t think any of us thought you weren’t. And with good reason too. We overreacted. Or worse, I guess, we didn’t think about what was going on before we acted. I will next time. I think we all will.”

  “Rodney is right. We should have let you handle what was going on in the first place. If you’d like to tell us the plan again, we’ll listen. Offer our opinions too.” She nodded at Shep but told him she was used to making decisions on her own. “Yes. As have all of us. We, as cats, should have been more supportive than jumping in where we weren’t needed.”

  “I think we should allow Jason to tell us what he knows about Harris. Then, he mentioned that I might have some witchcraft in my blood. That was why I was able to catch and hold Lach. On my own.” They dropped their heads again and nodded. “Go ahead, Jason. Tell us what you’ve been able to find out.”

  “Of course.” Jason sat down and turned to Harris. “Shep was right in thinking you were vampire. Also, believe it or not, there is fae in your bloodline. Not enough for me to have tasted it, but when I did a search on your line, I found, more generations back than I could have found on my own, that you did indeed have a mated vampire and fae as ancestors.”

  “So he was almost right on both. If you say it’s a small amount, then how was he able to taste it?” Harris held onto Shep’s hand as she asked Jason. “Please, tell me what you’ve found out.”

  “His name was Alexander. If he had a last name, like most of us, it has long since been forgotten. I’m sorry to tell you, however, that he has died. When his mate, Maybell, was killed, he followed her in death by meeting the sun. Together they had nine children, living a full and relatively happy life. Quite unheard of for a vampire to have so many children. And the fact that only one of them was a female was even more so. They too, sadly, are gone.” Rebel asked them what had happened to them. “They weren’t immortal—the family, I mean. However, they all had mates and begat more children and even more children beyond them. When they reached the end of their lifetime, they died as a human would.”

  “But I’m a descendant of them.” Jason smiled at her and said she was the last of them. The only living child of the Alexander and Maybell line. “They were the first then. The first of my lineage.”

  “Yes. And to say that they left you a legacy is understating their lifetime. As you may or may not know, when a vampire is killed or dies, his assets are put into a vault for his descendants. Had you not had me check, his things and those of his family, would have stayed locked up for all time. As it is now, I was able to prove you’re a child of his blood, and their assets now come to you.” Harris said she didn’t need anything. “Perhaps. But to not take it would be akin to not acknowledging your line. It is inevitable that the things stored away for him go to you now. The men in charge of such things have been putting things in your name, as well as exchanging the money for current money at today’s market pricing. There is a great deal of it, Harris. More than you have currently.”

  “Christ.” Rebel had an idea that Harris was wealthy. But whatever it was, Shep seemed to be a little upset with whatever was coming to her. He spoke before she could ask him what was pissing him off. “I’m just getting used to having an endless supply of ready cash. You’re making it sound as if what we have isn’t even a drop in the bucket.”

  “If the money you had right now were enough to fill one of the oceans in this land, the amount for you from your descendants would fill all the oceans and flood the world.” Jason paused to let that sink in before he spoke again. “There isn’t a number they can give you that will tell you what you now have.”

  “Can I at least assume it’s not all money?” Jason told Harris it was also gemstones, like diamonds and emeralds, property, homes, as well as stocks. “Why hasn’t anyone before now at least gotten some of this? I mean, it could have meant a home for them. College or whatever.”

  “They have. All of the generations got some of it. However, like their sire before them, they added to the vault. There are other things I need to discuss with you if—”

  “Who wants something to eat?” No one said a word when Harris suddenly stood up and asked who was hungry. “Well, I am. I’m going to the kitchen. I need a minute. Or a year. Just let me think about this.”

  No one moved to follow her. Rebel thought about it, going after the woman to ask her if this was something she had planned. A joke or something. But she also didn’t know if she wanted to hear that it was true. That the couple whose home they were in was worth billions, even trillions, of dollars seemed too real to be a joke.

  “Anyone need any money?” It was Rodney who laughed at Shep first. Then he was followed by Trenton and the others. Lach looked like she’d been hit with something, and even Bella looked a little shell-shocked. “I’m thinking we can pretty much lend any amount you might need for any project you have going or are even thinking about starting. This is much more than I imagined it would be when I asked Harris to call one of her vampire friends.”

  “I’m not sure you should even begin to put it in a bank. Or several of them, for that matter. This would have people crawling out of the woodwork.” Shep told her he’d be able to afford them. “Yes, but it would be something that would get someone hurt. Your children kidnapped too.”

  “I’m worried about that now. So you’re right. We’ll have to figure out how to use this money without causing trouble. I’m thinking the first thing we should do is get a vault of our own.” Jason said it had arrived in a vault. “Good that— Did you say that it arrived in one? Not that it’s coming here in one?”

  “It’s here in your lower levels. As you could imagine, they wouldn’t want to have to care for that much if they had someone around that could take it off their hands. The vaults—plural, so you are aware—arrived just as I did. If you’d like, I can show them to you now.” No one moved. “Or not. It’s up to you. The passwords are on the front of each of them. Once you have opened them, I’d remove the passwords and change them to something you can remember. I have also left a list of things for Harris to try out. Some magic that she may or may not have already. I can come back at any time to answer questions. We have an established link, so we can talk that way as well.”

  Jason stood up. So did the rest of them.

  “You don’t have to leave. She’ll be all right, I’m sure of it.” Jason said he’d been up much too long as it was. Shep shook his hand. “Thank you, Jason. I don’t know how we’re going to handle this, but we really do appreciate you figuring it out for us. At least we know a great deal more than we did before with this.”

  “As is always a good thing. I was going to go and see your grandfather later tonight. The two of us have been hanging out, sorting through photos and things that his wife had made. The two of us, we get to be like sad old men together, remembering Jill Ann and his wife as well.” Jason smiled. “I would never hurt the older man, but I must say, he is in a better place than I knew him to be even a few months ago.”

  “Harris.” Jason nodded. “She loves him as much as we do. I believe all the family does. He certainly loves Dru.”

  “As do I. The young, they can bring out the best in a person. Most of the time anyway.”

  After telling them goodbye, Jason disappeared. Rebel had a moment to wonder if he could tell her much more about the witch
she might have come from, but she’d save that for later. She didn’t have any idea what was in the home she was going to be staying in, and then there was the trap to catch Cort. That, she thought, would be a wonderful thing for her.

  Chapter 3

  Rodney waited in the lobby for Rebel to be looked over. The emergency room had been expecting her to come in, and they’d taken her right back to the cubical she was in. Nothing much had happened to her. However, she’d been covered in blood from her head to her feet. He wasn’t sure how he was feeling about that, but he did sit out in the lobby where he was told to sit. Messing up now would cost them a great deal more time than they’d already invested in this guy being out of their lives.

  “Are you all right, son?” He nodded, then shook his head at his grandda when he sat down beside him. “Yeah, I have to tell you, I feel the same way. I wanted to go back there with her, but Harris told me they had to do this by the books, or a lot of people were going to be upset with them. I don’t know that I care about other people so much as I do that little girl in that room back there.”

  “I know. But she’s right. The law is the law, and if we start making it look like we’re above it, there is no telling what sort of things will begin to happen to us.” He thought about the blood that had been all over the room Cort had been killed in. “If I hadn’t been there, Grandda, I don’t think I would have believed it from someone telling me about it. Even with Shep telling me what happened in there, I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Do you understand?” Grandda said he did and agreed with him on that.